Most know him as Nelly, platinum-selling rapper and part owner of the Charlotte Bobcats. Bradley Beal also knows him as Cornell Haynes, the family friend who would occasionally walk him to elementary school before hitting it big.

Nelly was a former star athlete at University City High in suburban St. Louis, where Beal’s mother, Besta, was a physical education teacher and athletic director. So, Beal can’t remember the first time he met Nelly, only that it was “ages ago.”

“I knew who we was, but I didn’t know,” Beal said of the now 39-year-old Nelly. “He wasn’t as big as he is now, but he was an up-and-coming rapper and eventually ‘Country Grammar’ came out” in 2000.

The “Country Grammar” music video was shot in St. Louis and features a neighborhood block party with a ton of extras. Is it possible a young Beal is somewhere in the crowd? I think he would have mentioned that to Lee, but I’m going to watch the video multiple times to see whether I can spot Beal. It’s totally for research, not because I just want to listen to the great song on loop.

“or maybe people my age actually listened to this song when i was hot and playing on the radio everyday that summer” says this 24 year old who is in no way shape or form a “wannabe” a wannabe what exactly? lol

There was a period of time, for around 6 weeks in the early 90s, when a lot of out of touch people used to say things like that. I don’t think it’s been used in modern times to describe listeners of a ubiquitous early 2000s pop hit.

Nelly = a bad rapper who was only relevant because for some reason I still can not grasp, people pretended down south rap was good for about 3 years (I blame Outkast). Below average lyrics, with a catchy hook and a lot of bass

There is a reason people still mention “country grammer” every time they talk about him, and none of his other albums….because they were all awful. But he did a cool song with the not cute chick from Destiny’s Child